ALBANY — The New York State Thruway Authority has proposed tweaking the design of the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

The proposal, recommended by the project's visual quality panel, calls for replacing the squared tops of the soaring 400-foot-plus towers with chamfered, or angled, ones.

The authority has posted multiple views of the two designs at newnybridge.com and is asking the public to vote its preference by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.

The change in the tower tops wouldn't alter any other aspects of the bridge's design or affect its construction schedule. It could, however, add as much as $2 million to the bridge's $3.9 billion cost.

"We all want a nice-looking bridge," said Veronica Vanterpool, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, —» but this isn't the most compelling need for limited dollars, no matter how small the price."

Vanterpool, an advocate for adding transit to the new bridge, pointed out the state's plan to pay for the project hasn't progressed beyond securing a $1.5 billion federal loan.

A Thruway spokesman couldn't explain why the visual quality panel wanted to change the tower tops. When the design was first released, the towers were compared to the Honda logo, chopsticks and tuning forks.